As he gathered Pokéblocks off the ground, Silver gritted his teeth and cursed.
"Damn it! I hate those old League families the most. Their ancestors just happened to guide the Heavenly League crowd around a few times, and now they act like they're the greatest thing in the world..."
In this world, Trainers were divided into clear classes.
At the bottom were unlicensed Trainers like Silver and Kagari. Inside the League, people like them didn't even count as Trainers. They were lawbreakers.
A step above them were League-certified Trainers like Asher.
Some of them were Gym trainees whose families had paid massive tuition. Others, like Asher, had just lucked into getting a bargain-bin license by sheer chance.
Either way, simply having an official Trainer license already put them ahead of ninety-nine percent of the world.
Above them were the League's direct-line Trainers, the kind who could walk out the door and be handed a starter Pokémon. They enjoyed endless privileges inside the League, and every service imaginable opened its doors to them with impeccable care.
Those people strutted around the League like they lived in some bright, kid-friendly cartoon.
And at the very top of the entire Pokémon world were the legendary Heavenly League scions.
They were the descendants of the original founders of the Pokémon League.
Legend said that eight hundred years ago, twenty families joined forces to create the first League.
They invented Poké Balls and the modern monster-taming system, defeated the ancient overlords that ruled the continents, those legendary Pokémon—those monsters of old—and freed humanity from misery and chaos.
The deeds of those great heroes were still praised to this day.
Even now, with the various regional Leagues gradually splitting apart and governing themselves independently, their descendants still stood at the center, controlling the order of every League.
Asher only had a rough grasp of that history.
Right now, he was more focused on examining the quality of the Pokéblocks.
Yeah... these had to be custom-made premium goods. They were probably worth several hundred a piece.
Hearing Silver's indignant rant, Asher chimed in while scooping up Pokéblocks.
"You're right! Those League trust-fund kids really aren't anything special. They just got lucky with the parents they were born to..."
Silver instantly got even more fired up.
"Exactly! One of these days, I'm going to find the One Piece, the great treasure left behind by the strongest Trainer in history, and become the strongest Trainer in the world! Then I'll prove to everyone that all those so-called great descendants of the Pokémon League aren't worth a damn! And after that, I'm going to change this whole world!"
The One Piece?!
Asher jolted in shock.
At that moment, Silver's figure crouched on the ground collecting Pokéblocks suddenly looked towering and mountain-like in Asher's eyes.
The sheer force of Silver's ambition crashed into his mind.
He had no idea what the One Piece actually was, but as a friend, he shouted back at full volume,
"Silver... I can feel your ambition! I understand your dream! Go do it! I'll support you in spirit forever!"
Silver's whole body shook, and he looked deeply moved.
"Asher... I knew it, you're the only one who really gets my dream! Good. Just wait until I find the One Piece and make my name known across the world! When that happens, come work with me. We'll do something big together!"
Do something big!
Asher had known all along that Silver wasn't ordinary. He was a man destined for big things.
Without realizing it, the bond of friendship between them tightened even further.
[Rotom! Your shared dream of doing something big with Silver has taken your Bond to the next level!]
[Your relationship has advanced to: [Friends Who Are Going to Do Big Things]!]
[Ability unlocked: [Viridian Power II]]
[[Viridian Power II]: By using your own mental strength, you can rapidly restore a Pokémon's stamina and ease its injuries outside of battle.]
"Gah?!"
Flare was sneaking Pokéblocks into its mouth while watching Silver and Asher warily.
What were these two plotting?!
Why were they suddenly getting along so well...?
"Chiko!"
Chikorita suddenly felt like the biggest third wheel in the world.
The leaf on its head began spinning like an electric fan as it lost control and charged straight at Asher...
...
"Big brother, did you... did you fight some kind of Pokémon?!"
Seeing Asher standing there with his pants torn up around the crotch, Kagari covered her mouth in shock, her eyes full of worry.
"Ahem. It's nothing serious. Don't worry about me."
Asher had no intention of telling her the story of how he'd ended up in a life-and-death struggle with a radish.
He pulled some Pokéblocks out from inside his clothes and smiled at Kagari.
"Here. Give these to Dopey from now on. This stuff packs a punch."
These were... the legendary Pokéblocks!
Was this why Brother Asher had ended up looking like that...?
Kagari held the beautiful, still-warm Blaze Pokéblock in her hands. A gentle warmth slowly seeped into her heart, and her eyes grew wet before tears began spilling over.
"Brother Asher... you... you're so good to me!"
[Rotom! Your helpful act has deeply moved Kagari!]
[Your relationship has advanced to: [Really... want to...]]
[Bond can transmit insight.]
[Flare's [Mysterious Insight] has deepened!]
?!
As if it had suddenly understood something, Flare's antenna-like cowlick twitched. It bared four teeth in a strange grin, and a secret kind of joy welled up inside it.
Asher suddenly realized something.
Of course. His own shining example must have helped Flare gain a deeper understanding of the joy of helping others!
He smiled at Flare.
"That's right. Friends are supposed to help each other and share with each other. Helping someone else can make you happy too!"
Flare said nothing. It just smiled and rubbed its belly.
Clearly, Asher still didn't understand what the app had really meant.
Flare hadn't picked up that insight from him at all...
Kagari and Flare, the two fire-named creatures, were sharing something else entirely.
Asher looked at the grand landmark building of Rustboro Gym faintly visible in the distance near Rustboro City, and unconsciously clenched his fists.
After Paul left, Asher found himself thinking seriously about challenging a Gym too.
Unlike Pokémon schools, which used broad and varied teaching methods, Gym Leaders usually specialized in one battle style and taught only the techniques they knew best.
For example, the Gym Leader of Rustboro Gym specialized in Rock-type Pokémon.
That meant the Pokémon used there all had the Rock type.
Rock-type Pokémon wielded the power of the Earth element.
Ground-type Pokémon also used the power of the Earth element.
The difference was that Rock-type Pokémon usually had bodies made up of a very high percentage of minerals, which made them extremely tough. Ordinary physical attacks had a hard time damaging them.
On top of that, they could gather Earth-element power through the minerals in their own bodies and use Rock-type moves without relying on the ground itself.
Ground-type Pokémon, on the other hand—things like Diglett and Sandshrew—didn't necessarily have particularly sturdy bodies, but they could borrow the power of the earth to gather tremendous Earth-element force.
They didn't have mineral-heavy bodies of their own, so they relied heavily on the ground to gather Earth-element energy. Their moves were also channeled through the earth, which often gave them powerful area attacks against Pokémon standing on the ground.
That said, Ground-type Pokémon often became helpless against Flying-types that wielded wind power and never touched the ground, while Rock-types could still chuck stones and blast birds out of the sky.
Asher was having a hard time with the idea of facing Rock-types.
Among the starters, anything besides a Fire-type would've had an amazing matchup here. A Water-type or Grass-type starter could've jumped in with a huge advantage. Unfortunately, the one in his hands was Charmander, the one almost guaranteed to get bullied in this matchup...
Fire-element attacks weren't very effective against the mineral-heavy bodies of Rock-types, and Earth and Water both leaned toward cooler, heavier attributes, while Charmander's body naturally thrived on warmth and sunlight.
Moves containing Earth-element power, whether Rock-type or Ground-type, could both do serious damage to Charmander.
Asher couldn't help sighing. Was his journey to becoming a master of bad matchups about to begin already?!
But becoming a master of bad matchups definitely wasn't something you could solve with "Dodge it," "Get up," and "Hang in there."
Behind the image of a Trainer who could win against bad type matchups stood a massive, well-developed tactical system.
So how exactly was fire supposed to beat rock...?
On the first day, Asher frowned in frustration.
On the second day, his expression eased.
On the third day, delight crept onto his face.
On the fourth day, the corners of his mouth lifted.
On the fifth day, he laughed and clapped his hands.
On the sixth day, he drank in celebration.
And on the morning of the seventh day, Asher headed for Rustboro Gym full of confidence to begin his challenge.
The strange grin on Flare's face was enough to prove that something terrifying was about to appear...